NEW MAGIC
by Toxicporfavor
Summary: 20 years after the events of FINAL FANTASY VII, a new power emerges to threaten the world’s future.
1. •1•THE NEW SORCERESS

THE NEW SORCERESS

Amira Leonhart shifts violently in her bed, sweating and clenching her sheets. The dreams from the night are reminiscent from many nights prior.

Explosions, magic and death.

Explosions, magic and death.

Explosions, magic and death.

Several people make cameos in the dreams. Fell. Swan. Her parents. One figure always appears as a blur. Her shape appears female, but her identity remains a mystery to Amira. (Does she have horns...?)

Explosions, magic and death.

Amira jolts upright in her bed. The room is dark, but she can tell from the dim glow of the outside lighting she's in her dorm at The Garden. She saddles the side of the bed, cupping her face in her hands. She sighs, and looks up at the item on her nightstand.

She gently grabs the necklace from the nightstand, caressing the lion pendant it in her fingertips. "I hope I make you proud tomorrow, Dad."

———

A normal morning would allow for a brief recumbence and reflection. However, today is not that day.

The SeeD exam is today.

Amira brushes off the torture of the night prior, showers and dresses in her pressed academy clothing. Her father always told her "The appearance of your clothes can get you far..."

Her father is a former SeeD. One of the first.

Years of training have led to this day. Amira knows this. She stares into the bathroom mirror, silently debating with her reflection how much effort she should put into arranging her hair and/or makeup. She ultimately decides to devote time to neither. She tugs the collar of her Garden vest, piercing her eyes into her own reflection.

"You've got this," she says to herself. She grabs the necklace from her nightstand, carefully clasping it around her neck. She caresses the lion pendant it carries carefully, hoping its former holder will carry her through today's trial(s).

And then she departs.

—————

Amira - finely dressed - leaves her dorm, anxiously anticipating the exam. She has as much to lose as she does to gain. Once upon a time, her parents helped save the world. Everyone knows this. It's common knowledge.

While walking down the hallway, she glimpses into one of the many reflective glasses lining the hallway of The New Garden - examining her reflection a final time. She hears a familiar voice-

"MIIIIRAGE!"

It's Fell Dincht. His outfit mirrors hers, only his is navy versus her royal blue. His collared vest and leggings aren't pressed, which is typical for Fell. His bright blonde hair signifies his lineage.

Amira flinches, then sighs. "Hey..."

Because of their parents, Amira has known Fell her entire life. She considers him to be unavoidable at this point. While other girls her age at the Garden swoon over him, Amira sees him as her best friend. He protects her, even when it's unneeded.

Fell delicately approaches, sensing Amira's nervousness-

"We got this," he whispers, gently approaching her. She strikes a quizzical glance at him. He's just repeated the mantra she spoke to herself earlier. His eyes and goofy grin reveal it to be coincidence.

"Yeah" she whispers back, a gentle reminder that she doesn't want to be distracted from the upcoming exam.

She briskly walks past him, seeing the unmistakable and never ending painting of the walls by Garden staff in the hallways. This is a brand new Garden, still being polished.

Fell quickly catches up to her, deeply breathing in. "I love that smell," he says, slyly grinning at Amira.

"You would," she replies, before stopping in her tracks.

Fell continues his trek, "I wonder if getting high before the exam would make it easier or-" he glances to his side, noticing his companion is stopped several feet behind him.

As he walks back to Amira, he continues "I wouldn't actually get high on paint before the trial-"

She stops him. "I had the dreams again," Amira explained.

Fell registers this, and then quizzically looks into Amira's eyes and asks, "The horned bitch?"

"Yeah, the horned bitch," she answers.

He pats her hair, "maybe you need to be huffing the paint, girly," before walking off. He glances back and sees the hurt look of his dismissive remark, and trods back to her. "It's just a dream, Mirage. And it's probably not...her...nobody even knows what she looks like..."

He continues onward.

Fell started calling her Mirage when they were 14. The woman he was referring to had been dead for years. Before they were even born. She was the big bad her parents and Fell's father defeated - a sorceress - the equivalent of an urban legend to Amira and Fell.

Amira doesn't move. Several steps away, Fell looks back "Heyyyyy come onnn." He slicks back his short, spiked hair. "If I pass this, do you know how many chicks are going to want to bang me tonight?" He grins, adjusts his belt and walks off.

Amira rolls her eyes and follows.

———

In The Garden parking lot, a bus awaits Amira, Fell and 3 other candidates attempting to achieve SeeD certification. They gather on board, all awkwardly shifting their weapons to not inadvertently injure one another. Amira's sais and Fell's knuckle grips are easily maneuvered. One candidate has a shotgun, and another a trident. Amira silently thanks an unknown being she wasn't trained on either solely because of their bulkiness.

Because there's only five candidates, they each sit separately. Fell sits down across the aisle from her. She notices his silence, and stoic face. She realizes it's finally sinking in for him.

Their parents did this years ago, during a time of Guardian Forces and sorceresses. SeeD exams were more physically demanding now.

In the lull of the wait, Amira imagines her late father-gunblade in tow-on his exam. She'd held the gunblade before. It was incredibly heavy. She remembers thinking how impossible it would be to battle with such a device.

The bus driver comes on the intercom, "Students, your instructor-Selphie-is a few minutes late. Thank you for your patience."

Amira looks at Fell. He's still lost in thought. "Hey...PPSSSTTT..." she alerts him. He glances up at her, an eyebrow arched, quizzing her request.

"Can we at least get one drink tonight before you go and bang whoever? I think...my Dad would have liked that."

Fell smiles at her and nods assuringly. "You got it, Mirage," he says. "But just the one...I have important things to get to...unless you want to be the one to tuck me in toni-"

Before he can finish, a blast explodes in the distance. Everyone in the bus flinches down instinctively, and then gradually rises, searching for the origin of the explosion. It's several cars in the parking lot in front them, all on fire.

Fell stands. "What the hell?" he asks, pointedly looking at all angles of the parking lot. "Is this part of the exam? Damn, this new garden has upgraded their shi-"

Another blast. This time from behind the bus. Amira gets out of her seat, a nervousness overcoming her.

Explosions were in her dream. So were magic and death...

And that bitch with horns.

She barrels to the front of the bus, taking her sais from their hilt, ready. She knows something bad is happening. "Whoa, young lady, this may be terrorists!" the bus driver proclaims. She glances at him and dismissively opens the bus doors.

"Wait!" Fell follows suit, pumping his kuckle grips, also preparing for battle. The other candidates follow behind. Whatever this is, they're going to fight it.

Amira, Fell and the other candidates exit the bus. Amira arms her sais, furiously glancing for a target.

A shadow darkens over the group. Glancing up, Amira realizes she's never seen the being before. He has horns -

(The bitch with horns...?)

-He's huge, smoke protrudes from his nostrils and she unmistakably knows he is here to kill them. Her father told her about him. Although Amira has never seen him before, she knows his name is Ifrit, a Guardian Force that should still be locked away like all the others.

(How is he out? Are the others out???)

Fell knows it also, probably hearing a lot of the same stories she did growing up. "Is that-?" he doesn't finish and he doesn't have to. Amira nods slowly and carefully at him, not wanting to alarm the beast any further.

Fell reciprocates her caution, flexing his fists, whispering "Why isn't he in the Deep Sea Facility where all the others are...?"

Amira shrugs. All the Guardian Forces were condemned years ago to a Deep Sea Research facility. It was ordered by the government. People feared their power and the effects of any one person having access to one. Was this...revenge?

"Our parents dealt with him, we can too," Fell courageously proclaims.

"Our parents had magic and could junction," Amira responds.

Both had been outlawed when the Guardian Forces were imprisoned. Amira's mind begins to race on how to defeat a 12 foot Guardian Force with sais, knuckles, a shotgun and a trident. She looks at Fell for reassurance and there is none. He is as scared as she is.

Suddenly, Ifrit begins to inhale, smoke coming from his mouth and nose. Amira knows what's next: Fire will rain down upon them. They will all die. The SeeD exam will never happen. She will never make her late father proud. She will never get the chance to reconcile with her mother, who she hasn't spoken to in 3 years.

And-Fell. Despite his misgivings, he'd worked just as hard as her. His father would have to bury him instead of attending his SeeD certification banquet.

All because of a loose Guardian Force.

As Amira accepts her fate, the sky around them darkens. The other SeeD candidates may not know who Ifrit is, but they appear to realize their near-demise.

Red flashes across the skyline. Amira notices the bus driver giving up hope, and swiftly driving away from them. The sky smells of sulphur.

Suddenly, Ifrit arches his menacing hands-and in doing so-wields whatever power he has to deliver fireballs from the sky-aimed at Amira, Fell and the other students. This truly is an assassination mission.

Amira closes her eyes, thinking of holding her fathers gunblade long ago.

And then-her ears pop. The sounds of fire and destruction are muted. She carefully opens her eyes and glances around.

Amira's arms are held in a protective stance above her head. Protruding from them is a shield of sorts. It's like electricity, shifting between her fingertips and hands. As she shifts her head, she realizes the field coming from her has also protected Fell and the other students. Fell's mouth is agape, staring at her in awe. She analyzes her arms and hands, trying to process what is happening. When her eyes arrive at her fingertips, she sees Ifrit in the sky above, appearing as confused as her.

In anger, Amira takes the unknown power in her hands, screams and in a large flash, directs all the energy at Ifrit, engulfing him. They all stare as it appears to paralyze him in midair, his demonic screams almost deafening before he plummets to the ground, lifeless and mute.

The electric energy dissipates from Amira and the field collapses from Fell and the others. Amira is left baffled at Ifrit's unconsciousness. She slowly approaches his still body, wide-eyed, trying to fathom how a Guardian Force is loose and what the hell just happened.

"HOLY HELL," Fell screams, startling Amira. "Next time, I'm huffing so much paint beforehand," shaking his head, bewildered. He stares directly at her "I mean, are YOU KIDDING ME WITH THIS FUC-"

"SHH," Amira says, index finger over her mouth. "I don't want him to wake up," she whispers.

Fell gently responds, "You took him down single-handed."

Amira diverts her gaze from Fell, choosing to focus on the huge beasts' stillness, still grappling with what has happened.

"What?" She shakes her head. "No..." she pauses, and clears her throat- "I don't know what happened just now."

Fell crosses his arms over his chest and cocks an eyebrow. "You're obviously the new sorceress, Mirage," he says.

————


	2. 2 THE END OF THE WORLD

•2• THE END OF THE WORLD

Explosions.

Magic.

Death.

Amira bolts upright in a foreign bed, eyes darting around the room. They squint almost immediately from the faint sunlight coming from a window, the shade partially drawn. She feels a hand on her wrist. "Hey," the voice says.

She recoils before realizing it's Swan, seated next to her bed. Further examination reveals she's in a bed at the Garden clinic. "What-?" she begins to ask.

Swan had been Amira's closest friend for several years. He always protected her from fellow peers that bullied her simply because of who her parents were. He protected himself from everyone that made remarks about his enthusiastic use of the color black - black hair, black clothes, black shoes. Amira didn't mind. It reminded her of her father.

Swan, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, responds "You fainted." He blinks his eyes several times, forcing his body awake. "How do you feel?" He asks.

Before responding, Amira remembers the events of the prior evening. Her supposed SeeD exam with Fell turned into a battle with a Guardian Force. "Oh my God," she begins, concern flashing in her eyes. "Is everyone ok? What happened to...it?"

Swan opens his mouth to respond, but the door to her room closes and she sees Selphie Tilmitt in front of her. "Here," she begins, "see for yourself how Ifrit is." Selphie approaches the window, and fully draws the shade. Sunlight disrupts the shadows of the room, while Amira and Swan's eyes adjust. And then she sees it.

Outside, in the Garden parking lot, surrounded by dozens of armed Garden staff is Ifrit, exactly where she last saw him. The many armed weapons aimed at him fail to frighten him. He stands stoic on his legs-perfectly still-his menacing eyes honed sharply on Amira.

————

"He's been out there all night," Selphie explains, staring solely at Amira. "He won't leave and your mother has ordered him to not be hurt unless he causes any further damage."

Amira reflects. Her mother - the person she hadn't spoken to in 3 years - knows about all of this. Great.

She looks over at Swan. His concentration is solely focused on the fire beast. Amira questions Selphie, "Why?"

Selphie sits on the bed at Amira's feet. She pats a hand atop the blanket draped around her feet, as if to comfort her for the explanation she's about to provide.

"Ifrit attacked our Garden, but last night all Gardens were attacked simultaneously. All by different Guardian Forces. There's..." Selphie trails off, before resuming, "There's hundreds-if not thousands-of people across the world that died last night."

Amira's jaw drops at the news. She is unable to comprehend this. She looks at Swan again, he appearing equally as shocked.

The doors to the clinic room burst open. It's Fell. "Dude, so they shut down the cafeteria all because of some dumb GF," he says, as he closes the door behind him. "I'm starving like a mother-" he stops sharply upon seeing Selphie.

"Fell, do you even know what actually happened last night? And you're worried about our cafeteria?" Selphie asks.

"Uhhh..." he says, then noticing Swan. "Oh, I see your girlfriend came," Fell says to Amira.

Amira continues Selphie's point, "Fell a lot of people died last night. Quit being an ass for once..." she says.

Fell reshapens his posture, a concerned look coming over his face. "I know that," he says to her. "But not here. A lot of people didn't die here, because of you."

Amira remembers his sorceress remark after she somehow used a protective shield to protect herself, Fell and others from Ifrit last night. She also remembers using it to disable him.

But, she doesn't want others to know about this. She clears her throat, widening her eyes at Fell to be silent. Her eyes dart to Swan, then Selphie, back to Fell and finally Selphie again.

Selphie picks up on this. "Yeah, so the bus driver recorded what happened last night. It's from a distance, after he apparently drove away to safety and abandoned you all," Selphie rises from the bed, flicking her wrist in disapproval of the bus drivers actions. "I'll deal with that later. However, I'm not going to make any assumptions based on what I saw in the recording. What I don't have to assume-what I know-is Ifrit is now yours," she says to Amira.

Amira looks at Swan, searching for an answer. Fell's stomach growls and he begins patting it like burping a baby.

"I don't know how-we'll figure that out later-but you junctioned a Guardian Force last night," Selphie says to Amira. "The reason he hasn't left yet is because you haven't told him to do so."

————

Amira lies in her bed inside her dorm room. She clutches the pendant of her necklace, ferociously recollecting recent events.

Ifrit was finally gone-well-until she summons him. Selphie, who had fought alongside her parents years earlier, taught her how to dismiss him. As far as she knew it, she was the only person on the planet that could summon a Guardian Force.

And then the sorceress issue. Selphie has dismissed it, but she knew her mother wouldn't. She had been a sorceress at one point also-

Which also means she couldn't be her mother. It had been taught in their history books over the years that a sorceress could never give birth. So if she wasn't her mother...?

Was her father who he claimed to be?

And the Guardian Forces? How were they freed from the research center? Why did they attack the Gardens? Why are so many people dead?

Amira rolls to one side of the bed, and glances at the floor below her. Swan lies on a makeshift cot. He refused to leave her alone tonight. "Swan..." she whispers.

"Hmm?" He replies, not fully awake. He rolls over and looks at her.

"Wake up," she says.

————

Amira and Swan are fully dressed, walking down Garden hallways in the early morning hours. It's still dark. Sunrise won't come for a few more hours.

Their weapons hide underneath their clothing. Swan trained with sais just as she did. They're prepared, because they have a destination to get to.

"Do we really have to take him" Swan exasperatedly asks. He's referring to Fell.

"He's a good fighter. Plus, I've known him longer than you," she replies with a coy grin.

Swan rolls his eyes as Amira knocks on Fell's dorm room.

No answer.

She knocks again and then hears his loud shuffling through the doorway.

He opens the door, standing only in his underwear, eyes groggy. He grins seeing her. "Hey Mirage, so you came to tuck me in after all?" Then he sees Swan. "Oh."

"Come on," she says to him.

————

Outside the Garden, in the exit side of the parking lot, Fell and Swan stare at Amira as she walks in circles, silently bobbing her head.

"This is so stupid," Fell says.

"Shutup," Amira replies.

She's trying to summon Ifrit. Selphie gave her a GF crash course earlier, but it's taking longer to summon him than to dismiss him.

"What if he comes here and burns us all to smithereens?" Fell asks.

Swan, arms crossed, replies for her, "He would have done that earlier if that's what he wanted. Be quiet for once."

Amira begins to focus on the reason for this late night rendezvous. The sleepless nights, the dreams, last nights events...

Explosions, magic, death.

Horns.

And now the Research Facility has been compromised. The place where her fathers remains lay...

If he is her father.

She wants answers.

Suddenly a bolt of red lightning flashes through the sky. They collectively hear a murmured growl. A figure descends from the clouds.

It's unmistakably the fire beast. His nose and mouth protrude smoke as the growling persists. Fell and Swan step back. Swan arms his sais, prepared. Fell knuckles up.

There is no reason for alarm, however. Ifrit gently descends to the ground by Amira, and bows his head, waiting for his orders.

———

"Man I hate heights," Fell proclaims, clenching his stomach.

Amira, Fell and Swan ride atop Ifrit in the night sky. On Amira's command, he is flying them to the Deep Sea Research Facility.

Swan stares at Fell in disgust before inquiring "How far away is this place exactly?"

"It's at the end of the world," Fell responds, "Same place my stomach is currently at."

Amira responds to neither. She's silently thankful she has two friends willing to do this for her. She also briefly thinks how much trouble this could get them in. It's illegal to go anywhere within 5 miles of the Research Facility. But that was when Guardian Forces were there...

Ifrit sharply stops in midair. The three of them look around to see the reasoning behind this, only seeing clouds.

"Uh, descend?" Amira asks.

Ifrit gradually begins drifting downward. Amira, Fell and Swan go through the clouds, finally making out ocean and then a tiny piece of land, bright CAUTION tape covering the place.

"We're here," Amira says.

————

There was no brilliant break-in scheme. The doors to the facility were wide open, including extra holes in parts of the hull. Amira wonders if this was from the Guardian Forces escape.

As they proceed through the large double doors and small entryway, Fell asks "If so many people died by these things last night, why isn't their like A MILLION people here examining the place?"

Amira wonders the same. Why wasn't their swarms of people here investigating after last nights attacks? How did they simply walk through the front door? And how did she get here so easily on a giant Guardian Force, the same type of being responsible for last nights events?

She dismisses the thoughts when she sees the computer terminal in front of her. She resolves to find her own answers.

She approaches the terminal, Fell and Swan in short follow. The bright red screen simply says: ID REQUIRED.

Amira places her hand on the large screen, briefly allowing it to register. The screen turns from red to green, followed by an automated female voice "WELCOME AMIRA LEONHART."

A menu pops up on the screen and Amira immediately begins scrolling.

"How did you do that?" Swan asks.

"My Dad took me here all the time," she shortly responds.

Fell is unimpressed, instead choosing to inch his face closer to Swan's. "Dude," he begins, "you're wearing cologne? We're breaking into places and you're still trying to impress this girl-"

Swan calmly shoves him away. Fell has mocked Swan's affection for Amira ever since they met.

As Amira scrolls through the folders, she finds one marked: CONFIDENTIAL. She clicks it.

Various files pop up in the folder. Some file names are jibberish, a combination of letters and numbers that mean absolutely nothing except maybe to the person that named them. Then one file name stands out: ADEL DNA.

She cocks her head in curiosity, knowing the guys behind her aren't paying attention. Then she sees another file name: SQUALL LEONHART - 2 IDS REQUIRED.

What? Of all the files she's scrolled through, one with her (hopefully) fathers name is the only one requiring 2 IDs?

Amira clicks the file name. A prompt appears requesting her ID. She places her palm on the screen again. The automated voice confirms: "THANK YOU, AMIRA. SECOND ID REQUIRED."

"So it really does need two IDs..." she says to herself.

What is this? What about her Dad is such a big secret? And the file ADEL DNA...?

A loud commotion from the entryway disrupts her concentration. Amira looks up, seeing several armed men storming the entrance of the facility. Their guns are drawn, the flashlights affixed to them - all spotted on her, Fell and Swan.

"God, I knew this would happen," Fell says.

They hold their hands up in surrender as the last of the dozen men enters, all guns on Amira and her cohorts. After a brief silence, they hear footsteps coming from behind the men. Someone else is entering.

The figure appears through the darkened entryway, and Amira recognizes her immediately. Amira slowly lowers her arms, feeling safe yet equally shocked.

"Mom? What-How-why are you here?" she asks the woman.

Rinoa responds: "Because I own this place."

———


	3. 3 THE GIRL

Amira is trotting down the deck outside the Deep Sea Research Facility, her mother pulling her by hand. She furiously pounds her heels across the wooding, leading them both to a seacraft.

Ifrit lies at the end of the deck, mere feet away from the vessel. The beast rests with ease, his chest showing the intake of his breathing. He lays on his side, eyes closed, appearing exhausted. Smoke exits his nostrils with every exhale. Rinoa, Amira's mother, pauses - yet, Ifrit remains still, unbothered by Rinoa's visit. She pauses, taking in his presence. She fought alongside him years prior. It's an odd reunion, despite his lack of desire to participate.

Rinoa regains composure, and leads her daughter to the entrance of the vessel, directing her to enter first. The mother and daughter remain silent the entire time.

In recent years, Amira has noticed her mothers' change in style. Simple dresses have been swapped out for designer suits. The long flowing hair was cropped shortly after her fathers death.

Amira embarks down the stairs into the submarine, taking in her surroundings. The last time she was on a submarine was with her dad

(Is he my Dad?)

a long time ago.

Rinoa follows suit. She pointedly directs Amira to the back of the vessel, a small room that appears to be for dining. There's a picnic table, bolted to the flooring - a stove and microwave are nestled around them. Amira sits at the table. Her mother remains standing.

"I saw that camera footage," Rinoa begins. These are the first words her mother has spoken to her in years.

"Yeah, about that," Amira begins "if that happened then you're not my Mom. A sorceresses can't produce a child."

Rinoa remains standing, but unbothered by her daughters claim. She leans forward on the table, "I'm your mother, Amira. I don't care-"

Amira jumps up from her seat, "Where's Fell and Swan?" she demands.

"They're being questioned," Rinoa calmly responds.

"About what?!" Amira demands. "You OWN this place? How? Why? And you're not my mother if I can produce magic without junctioning..."

Rinoa takes a second before responding. "Swan and Fell are fine. First of all. I own this place for a lot of reasons, but mainly because Squall left it to me. He knew what would happen..." she briefly pauses, "would happen here," she concludes.

Amira stares at her. She's referring to her father dying here.

"Secondly," Rinoa begins, "the government decided to imprison the Guardian Forces. As much as I hated it, I didn't trust other people to show them proper compassion unless I oversaw it. I already had enough being Garden, Inc. CEO...you really think I wanted this, too?"

Amira ignores her plea. "What is the file on the terminal that requires dual identification for Dad?" She asks it very pointedly and purposefully.

Rinoa doesn't respond.

Amira continues, "What is the Adel DNA file?"

Rinoa doesn't respond.

Amira stands up, sizing up her mother. "What does it mean if I'm a sorceress?"

Rinoa's eyes remain on her daughter, but glaze with tears. "There was a girl..." she begins, but breaks down. She collapses into one of the chairs near the table. Amira has never seen her mother fall in tears. Despite everything, she rushes to her side, embracing her tightly.

Rinoa calmly pushes her daughter away, parting her hair and regaining composure. "Contrary to popular belief, this place was once owned by followers of Adel." She stands, walking away from the table and looking away from her. "They held two Guardian Forces here...before the others were locked away." She takes a deep breath.

Rinoa resumes, "We came here before going to Ultimecia. We found Guardian Forces...but, not her."

"Who?" Amira asks.

"After the battles, the government sent your father to this place. It should have been condemned. It was...unsafe. There were monsters. He was worried about anyone else stumbling upon this place." Rinoa takes her place back at the table, seated across Amira.

"But he said there was a girl here," Rinoa continues. "She had always been here. Even when we first arrived...but she was hidden. He said she was more powerful than Ultimecia ever was. She had never been exposed to the outside world. He presumed Adel's followers did that to her intentionally...to make her more cruel. To fulfill some type of god-awful destiny."

Rinoa places a hand on her head, a gesture of frustration. "I never met her. Your father talked about her a lot."

"Does this have to do with Dad's death?" Amira asks.

Rinoa breathes. "No. But I think he would have done anything to save that little girl. She started having dreams, and before he locked himself in here, they were passed onto him. I don't think it was intentional. I think it was because of her powers. You were really young."

Amira swallows, daring to ask "Dreams...of what?"

Rinoa calmly responds "He dreamed that little girl could grow up to destroy the entire world."

Amira forgets about everything else.

————

Fell is eventually thrown into a locked cell on the sea vessel with Swan. They stare at each other briefly.

"So...?" Swan asks.

"Just stupid questioning," Fell responds. "I'm so hungry."

Swan glares at him, refusing to answer.

Fell begins, "I know you care about her. I do, too." He's referring to Amira. "I'm sure her Mom is just grilling her."

"You think?" Swan sarcastically asks.

There's a brief silence between the two before Swan breaks it, "I'm actually hungry, too."

Fell looks up, cheapishly grinning at him.

"Dude," Swan concludes.

Fell's smile brightens.

———

Amira and Rinoa have existed in silence for several minutes. Amira wonders how Ifrit is doing. Amira also contemplated several life choices leading to this.

"You're not that little girl," Rinoa says, breaking the silence.

Amira lays her head down on the table, directing her head away from her mother.

"I was fully awake when the doctors took you out of me. Squall was there, too," Rinoa confirms.

Three years. Three long years of not speaking has led to a conversation about Amira's lineage. She keeps her head on the table. Of course she wondered if she was the little girl. And of course, her mother knew she was thinking it also.

"Why did you let him do it?" Amira asks.

Rinoa sighs. "He wanted to save everyone. He...didn't have a family. And when the cancer happened, he focused all his attention on that girl because..." Rinoa pauses. She turns her head away from Amira.

"Because why?" Amira asks.

"I think...in his mind...she was the last person he could save. But, that's not what happened..." Rinoa looks back at Amira.

"So you let him come here and die. Because of some dumb girl," Amira begins. "You know what," she rises up, pointing at her mother, "I haven't talked to you because you ALLOWED HIM to not seek any treatment. You SUPPORTED it. You didn't even try. And now I realize it's because of some girl? I lost-"

Amira sees the soft swell of tears in her mothers eyes, but refuses to back down.

Amira's voice breaks, tears beginning to fill her own eyes. "You let my Daddy die for some girl that wasn't even his daughter? I didn't even know he was sick." Amira heaves, the tears flowing rapidly now.

"He was my Daddy..."

Rinoa wipes tears from her own eyes. And replies, "That was his deci-"

"NO!" Amira screams. "No. He was my father. I should have known. And you know that."

Rinoa stands in silence.

Amira continues, "AND I'm not stupid, MOTHER. I will unlock those files eventually. What are you hiding here?"

Rinoa gathers her composure. "I'm not hiding anything," she says. "There's different alarms, but one went off because a high-powered entity entered the facility. I don't know if that's you or if Ifrit got too close to the sensors..."

Amira shifts her gaze from her Mother, opting to stare at the floor instead.

"I know you quit talking to me because of him. But I still love you," Rinoa says.

"The files?" Amira asks.

"The two you mentioned have been classified by people above me," Rinoa responds.

————

A knock at the door disrupts Amira and Rinoa's discussion. It's Zoe, another long time friend of Amira. Her beautiful ebony skin and dark curly hair have always been a comforting sight to Amira. She plants her arms around Zoe's neck, still fighting emotions.

Zoe reaches around her, and cradles her. "Hi, honey." They embrace for almost a full minute before pulling apart.

Amira looks her in the face and awkwardly smiles/cries before hugging Zoe again.

"Hey, don't get too emotional," Zoe says, "I don't need Frito or whatever his name is to come down on my ass."

She's obviously heard about Ifrit.

Amira laughs. "Why are you here?"

Zoe responds "Shiva is the one that attacked my Garden." Zoe's eyes dip down before continuing, "I actually came here because of your Mom." Zoe slants her eyes at Rinoa to ensure.

Rinoa stares at them both, and notices Amira's puzzled look. "I want her to do blood testing. Just to be sure of things. You're my daughter, but maybe something else happened."

Zoe initially began at Garden with Amira, hoping to achieve her parents dream of becoming SeeD. She discovered a passion for biology instead.

"I thought you would feel more comfortable with it, if it was Zoe," Rinoa concluded.

Amira looks from her Mom and back to Zoe. "I really didn't know what to do," Zoe whispers. "She's the CEO of Gardens." Zoe shrugs after concluding this.

Amira sighs. "Can a blood test prove if I'm a sorceress?"

"I guess we'll find out," Zoe responds.

————

In the small infirmary, Zoe tourniquets Amira's arm, preparing for a blood draw. "I haven't stayed in contact with you like I should have, Amira," Zoe says, grabbing a pressured ball for Amira to squeeze during the blood draw.

"You've been busy. I have, too," Amira responds.

"Yeah, but you've been busy with some serious stuff from what your Mom told me. This sorceress stuff? I don't know how to tell that from a blood sample, but apparently she-"

Screams erupt outside the room. BOOMS erupt shortly after. The ship crew outside are under some kind of attack. Amira and Zoe disregard the blood work, taking cover under the small exam table inside the sea vessel. Amira instinctively grabs...nothing. Her sais are with Ifrit. She's defenseless.

The loud noises are closer. "Amira, What IS THAT?!" Zoe quietly asks, but in a loud squeal.

Then it hits her. Someone knows they're here. Someone has orchestrated the next attack. Despite being surrounded by ocean, Amira realizes the small booms are actually clicks going across a track. The screams aren't screams at all, but the whistle of a locomotive.

"Oh my God. That's Doomtrain," Amira responds.

————


	4. 4 THE TRAIN

•4• THE TRAIN

Fell silently paces his cell, while Swan sits on the bottom bunk of the bed provided inside.

"Chill out," Swan says.

Fell doesn't respond, choosing to continue his pacing, when a loud train whistle is heard right outside the vessel they're imprisoned in.

"Oh, seriously? Of all of them?" Fell asks no one in particular.

Swan has sat upright on his cot, "What is it?" he asks.

Despite being a great fighter, Swan didn't grow up hearing about legendary Guardian Forces. He knew who Ifrit was, clearly. Everyone knew Ifrit, Shiva, Quetzalcoatl...Doomtrain is another league.

"Get up," Fell commands. "This is going to suck really bad."

"What?" Swan asks.

The train whistle blows again, closer this time.

"Just...protect us. I'm getting Amira out of...wherever her mother has her, and then we're taking him on. He has a lot of bad status effects..." Fell trails off, hoping Swan understands.

"Ok," is Swan's only reply.

"Ok," Fell affirms.

———

"Just stay here," Amira says to Zoe. The train attacked the outside of the Research Facility moments earlier. Zoe could kill anyone with a gun, something she didn't have equipped at the moment.

"I'm going out there."

Zoe shakes her head. "No," she pleads, "it will kill you, Amira."

Amira focuses all her attention towards Zoe. "No, it won't. I have a Guardian Force. Plus my Mom is still out here. I can't just stand by."

Zoe nods, understanding Amira's decision. Amira climbs the steps from the hull of the ship. Before opening it, she takes a deep breath, and clutches the lion pendant her necklace holds.

She counts.

1

2

3

Amira slams the door open, and jumps on the ships surface. Doomtrain has already built tracks all over the seacraft. By the sound, he's 30 feet away. Which is technically in the ocean. Which is technically weird.

(Imagine being the one GF that requires train tracks).

Another door slams open on the surface. It's Fell and Swan. "HEYYY," Amira yells. They both rush towards her.

Fell asks "Uh, I'm guessing that's Doomsday."

"Doomtrain," Amira corrects him.

"Doomsday is the one that killed Superman," Swan explains.

Fell stares blankly at him, unimpressed.

"I have a plan," Amira begins. "But I have to find my Mom."

———

Amira goes below deck. Her mother is on a phone call, FaceTime and Skype on various devices.

"Please just implement the safety procedures we put in place after the last attack," she says. "We're in the ocean, it may not even affect the Gardens but please be careful."

Rinoa sees her daughter, and hangs up on all devices. "It's Doomtrain," she says.

"I know," Amira responds. "You're the head of Gardens...can't you find out who is forcing them to attack us?" She's referring to the Guardian Forces.

Rinoa crosses over to a monitor with a camera feed outside. She carefully watches Doomtrain. "They're Guardian Forces, Amira. They don't exactly respond to questioning."

————

Above deck,...is almost nonexistent. Thanks to Doomtrain. His path is destructive.

Fell and Swan spot Amira as she returns. "MIRAGE!" Fell calls. "Be careful."

Another door bursts open from the ships surface. It's Rinoa, Amira's mother. Rinoa stares wide-eyed at the Guardian Force destroying everything around him.

"HEY," Amira yells. Rinoa looks at her. Amira continues, "Slow him down."

Magic had been prohibited for several years now. But Amira had also seen her mother use junctioned magic periodically through the years.

Rinoa nods toward her daughter. She casts slow on Doomtrain. It doesn't work.

Amira recognizes this. The train is closing in on the Research facility, having already destroyed half of it. It will soon destroy those she loves.

Fell and Swan look from the other side of the facility's parameters, a worried look encompassing their faces.

The locomotive is coming towards her again. It's whistling taunts her demise. It haunts its never ending tracks as Amira ponders all escape routes, and finally-

-She summons the Fire Beast. As Doomtrain nears her, Ifrit plummets fireballs at him. The train stops, but Ifrit doesn't. He divebombs the monstrosity deep into the bowels of the Research Facility. The struggle takes place for several minutes before dying down.

Fell approaches Amira. "Damn, Mirage. That was something."

Swan is behind him. He doesn't respond, but places his hand between her shoulder blades, rubbing slightly. A gentle reminder of his care.

As the the dust settles from the hole Ifrit created from pile driving Doomtrain, Amira hears rustling.

She looks at Fell and Swan. They hear it also.

From the hole, a dusted figure drags himself up. His hair is longer than Amira remembers. He's actually not as dead as Amira remembers.

"Dude..." Fell says.

Swan has his sais drawn. He asks, "who's he?"

Fell responds, "That's Squall Leonhart."

Amira's eyes glisten with tears.

"Daddy?"

————


	5. 5 FOOTSTEPS IN THE SHADOWS (part 1)

•5• FOOTSTEPS IN THE SHADOWS (part I)

-BEFORE-

The double doors to the Deep Sea Research facility loudly clang open. Dust, cobwebs and other debris fall from the doors as they open. Squall enters, shooing the debris cloud away from him. He steps through the entrance, followed by Rinoa. "Yeah, so I've still gotta tidy up a little," he declares.

They pause, shortly after entering. Automated lighting panels begin to flicker, before finally fully turning on. Rinoa takes a second to fully take in her surroundings. She remembers this place, and not fondly.

"So," Squall begins, "we got all the damn Ruby dragons finally cleared out. You remember how much I hated those things. All the monsters are gone now…I think." His voice echoes throughout the entrance chamber. He steps forward to a main panel, Rinoa following.

"Have you got your results from the doctor, yet?" she asks. He shakes his head 'no' at her.

Squall places his hand on the terminal. "WELCOME SQUALL LEONHART," the automated voice greets. The voice is loud, disrupting Rinoa. She steps closer to Squall, placing one hand on his back.

"You ready to go down?" he asks.

———

The second floor isn't any better than the first. It's colder, along with more dust and cobwebs. Obviously, more time has been devoted to clearing out the first floor.

Rinoa has been here five whole minutes and is ready to leave. "OK, show me what you wanted to show me. I've got to get back to the Garden."

Rinoa had recently become a trainer for Garden, Inc. Rumors were swirling that she was being eyed for possible promotion to president of one of the Gardens with an opening. Rinoa wanted the position, and in turn, wanted to spend as little time away from the Garden as possible.

(As if I don't see her enough already…as if Amira doesn't see her enough already – Squall thinks.)

"They're over here." Squall motions to a corner of the second floor. Rinoa sees boxes piled up. Squall begins walking over to them, and then turns back to Rinoa. He reaches out for her hand. She takes it, and he guides her toward the boxes.

He grabs the first one on top, and opens it. Rinoa sees it is stacked with books. She bends down, grabbing one, and begins rifling through it. It's not a book at all, but more of a huge journal – one of many, noticing the others are replica's of the one she currently holds. The smell of the old pages – something she hasn't smelled in years – excites Rinoa. She begins flipping through the pages, reading sample lines from every page. It's only after a few pages of doing this that she begins to question what's she's holding. "What the hell?" she asks.

Squall explains, "I can't read these and do the work I was asked to do here. I got lost for a couple of hours going through them the other day, and I can't lose that kind of time," he looks around the room after saying this.

Squall was hired by the government to address this place. Because of all the resources here, they didn't want it to lay unused. Squall was initially sent with an entire team of men to scour the monsters from the bowels of the facility. After, Squall was to go through the entire facility, provide a detailed report of his findings, ultimately allowing the government to decide if they could use it as a new Naval Garden. Years after the big battle, everyone was still just as paranoid. Gardens, armies and weapons were all the government cared about now…after everything...

Rinoa inquires, "her followers wrote these?"

Squall knows she's referring to Adel's followers. This place had been abandoned for so long that nobody actually knew what the hell it was for, even after Squall, Rinoa and gang found this place the first time. They got out of here right after fighting Ultima Weapon, and didn't look back. After starting to go through everything now, it looks like Adel's followers used this place. Maybe Ultima belonged to them?

They suddenly hear footsteps clanging on the metal flooring of the facility. Rinoa shuts the journal in front of her, eyes wide at Squall. "Who's that?" she nervously asks.

Squall shakes his head, "It's just the pipes. I heard it a few times before, but it's nothing. We got all the monsters out of here, I promise."

Rinoa is unsure. "That sounded like footsteps, not a monster," she firmly responds.

"It's not," Squall flatly says.

———

The next day, Squall sits inside the bottom floor of the facility, alone, eating a sandwich. Rinoa departed the facility for home the night prior, the Adel journals in tow.

There's another computer terminal down here, near the water allowing access to the ocean just outside. He'd decided this morning he was going to work his way from the bottom up, instead of vice versa.

It was odd coming down here this morning, his first thought being that of fighting Ultima Weapon. He remembered finding Eden here as well, a legendary Guardian Force that nobody even knew existed. At least now she wasn't locked down in this facility. She was at one of the Gardens, but Squall could never remember which Garden had which Guardian Forces.

After the big battle, their Guardian Forces were taken from them by the government. They were instead distributed to Garden Presidents, in case attacks on them went down like before. Squall understood, but he absolutely hated giving up Quetzalcoatl.

He finishes one half of his sandwhich, wipes the crumbs from his fingertips, and places the other half atop a towel near the terminal. He places his hand on the computer terminal here. It recognizes him, and allows him access. Squall is quick to notice what he's gradually realized going through the floors. There's files on this terminal that aren't on the others. He shakes his head, finally succumbing to the notion that he'll have to network all the terminals together on each of the floors. He can't keep wasting time going from floor to floor trying to go through the files.

As he recognizes this, his cell phone rings. He grabs it out of his pocket, stepping away from the computer terminal, heading towards a set of stairs leading up from the bottom floor. Reception wasn't great down here.

He answers the phone, not looking at the ID beforehand. It's his doctor, a call he had been expecting. "Mr. Leonhart we have the results of the testing."

Squall recognizes the voice registers clearly, and abandons his ascent up the stairs. "Yes," he replies, all the while going back toward the terminal to grab the other half of his sandwich. Except…it's gone.

"OK, so we looked at everything, and we double-triple checked," the doctor continues.

"Uh huh," Squall responds, only half paying attention. He looks atop the computer terminal, to the sides, behind it. His sandwich is gone.

(What the hell…he thinks to himself.)

"Mr. Leonhart, I need you to pay attention," the voice on the other line commands, noticing Squall's lack of interest in the conversation taking place. "This is important," the doctor concludes.

Squall hears footsteps coming from a darkened recess from behind the terminal, near the corner.

(It's just the pipes…he thinks to himself).

But then he sees a figure darting through the shadows, dimly lit only by the poor lighting given off by the terminal. It appears…human…

Squall absentmindedly hears the voice on the other end of the phone call, but does not register what's being said. He's not alone down here. Someone else is down here. And his gunblade is upstairs…

As the figure approaches one corner of the room, Squall dimly squints his eyes. It's only the size of a child. It has a shroud on - long, dark hair following down its back. He steps carefully forward, not wanting to alarm it, but also wanting to know who the hell this is.

The figure is cornered. He cautions forward, the voice on the other end of his phone still drowning on.

Squall steps forward, 10 steps away from the figure, 9 steps, 8…

Suddenly, an unmistakable glow comes form what would be the figures eye sockets. The light is dim, and then gradually becomes blindingly bright. With the light, a WHOOSH of green energy is hurled from the figure directly at Squall, knocking him on his back after being hurled through the air. He lands with a thud, his cell phone landing right next to him.

Squall gradually sits up, staring at the figure, confused. The bright light is still dimming, but he sees the figure has his other half of the sandwich in its hand, bringing it to its mouth, and taking a huge bite.

Squall sits, dumbfounded, when he hears the voice from the phone resting on the ground beside him finally conclude, "Squall, I'm sorry, but it's Stage 4 cancer."

———

-PRESENT DAY-

"AGGGHHH," Squall screams, Amira is trying to get him strapped onto the gurney Zoe brought inside the facility, with the help of some of Rinoa's men.

He's fighting the process, and Amira doesn't know why.

(How is her father alive after being down here so long?)

She looks at her Mother. Rinoa is unhelpful, standing still with a hand over her mouth, staring at a very much alive Squall.

"HELP HIM," Amira screams at her.

Rinoa shakes her head, as if dismissing an unseen hold on her, rushing to help the others restrain Squall into the gurney.

Zoe, Amira's friend and also medical student, shakes her head. "This shouldn't be possible," she trails off.

"DUH," Fell loudly exclaims, he and Swan helping to restrain Squall as well. "People tend to not you know, UN-DIE, Zo-Zo," he finishes, as eloquent as ever.

Zoe continues, "Well, I know, but he shouldn't have this much strength. He should have muscle atrophy," Zoe's eyes rise to meet Amira's. Amira shakes her head, signaling confusion at this.

Zoe continues, "He should be disabled, Amira. We shouldn't be having this hard of a time."

They finally get him buckled to the gurney, and Zoe reaches into her coat, carefully pulling out a syringe, already filled with an unknown medicine. She pulls the top off with her teeth, and carefully injects it into Squall.

He begins to die down, his eyes locking onto Amira. They begin to water.

(He recognizes me -she thinks.)

He whispers, "I didn't want you to know..." his eyes locked on Amira.

(That he was sick? -she wonders to herself.)

His eyes blink a few times, heavily pressured, before finally staying closed. He's out.

Everyone is staring at him, sighing relief. The battle with Doomtrain, now Squall is alive...

Rinoa breaks the silence. "Zoe, we need to get him on the ship. I want to know what the hell is going on."

———


	6. 6 - FOOTSTEPS IN THE SHADOWS (part 2)

-BEFORE-

Squall sits outside the deck of the Deep Sea Research Facility, awaiting Rinoa.

It's been 8 months since his diagnosis, and he's sure Rinoa is on another weekly visit to the facility "just to check on him."

He hears the helicopter in the distance. He stands up on the deck, stepping back just outside the entrance of the facility, allowing the helicopter to land and the blades to stop blowing ocean in his face.

The buzz of the helicopter dies down. He notices Rinoa gesture to the pilot, and then she steps out. She sees him and begins walking forward.

He steps toward her, embracing her when close enough. The hug is short, before she pulls back, looking in his eyes, "How are you feeling?" She asks.

He shrugs. He actually feels fine. He's felt fine the entire time since his diagnosis, almost not believing it.

"Can we go inside?" She asks.

He shakes his head. "What is it?" He asks.

"Why don't you ever let me inside anymore?" Rinoa answers.

The truth is, he doesn't want anybody inside - not after finally making a determination that a growing, budding sorceress lives inside. Especially after how careful he's been to develop a trust with her.

"We can go inside," he begins, "but just the entranceway." He grabs her hand, and opens the facility.

———

Rinoa hasn't been in here in a while. It looks...nice. A lot nicer from what she remembered. "Wow, you've really been taking care of this place," she says to Squall, still glancing around.

"Yeah," he says, his eyes nervously darting around, hoping the facility's permanent resident doesn't make an appearance.

Rinoa notices an abundance of monitors near the computer terminal of the entrance. "Why did you put all these in?" she asks.

Squall shrugs, knowing good and well why he put them here.

Rinoa turns to look at him. "We need to talk about a few things. And we're going to talk about them now. I'm tired of avoiding this," she says, her serious tone to affirm she means business.

Squall nervously pats the back of his head, "Ok," he replies.

Rinoa begins pacing, crossing her arms over her chest. "First, I'm tired of having to remind Amira that you still love her. I'm tired of her asking why you only come home one night a week now." Rinoa says, her eyes locked on Squall. Despite not having asked a question, he knows she's waiting for an answer.

Squall doesn't answer right away, instead he clutches the necklace clasp from the back of his neck, taking the chain with the lion pendant off. He bunches it in his palm, holding it out to Amira, "Give her this," he says.

Rinoa accepts it, but sighs, not fully pleased with his answer. "Look," Squall says, "My report is due in just under 3 months. I have to finish everything up here. Just tell her I love her, and to always wear this, and I'll always be with her."

Rinoa nods, but continues in frustration, "I know you're almost done here. But I'm set to take the Garden presidency position in a few weeks..." she trails off. "I'm going to be busy a lot. She's going to feel alone, Squall."

"I'll start coming home more, I promise," he says. "I'll-" he starts, before Rinoa interrupts him.

"And she needs to know you're sick," Rinoa says. "She needs-," her voice catches in her throat. Squall realizes she's fighting her emotions. "Our daughter needs to know what's happening before...before," Rinoa slams her face into her palms, heaving in tears.

Squall, never good with emotions, tries to assess the best way to handle this. In the midst of his thought process, the computer terminals behind Rinoa light up, turning bright red, before the same text appears on all of them, asking one question:

IS THIS RINOA?

———

Luckily, the monitors went back to sleep, just before Rinoa regained composure. Mascara runs down both eyes. Squall loves this woman. But he can't give her the answers she wants.

"I don't know how to explain it," he begins, "but something about this place-" he turns, examining the monitors and the shadowy surroundings. The last thing Rinoa needs to see on top of everything is the permanent entity residing here.

She finishes for him "Has healed you? You've told me that a million times. It would be nice to have doctors confirm that, but you won't go to any of your checkups-" Rinoa stops, her cellphone ringing in her coat pocket. She breathes, letting it ring a couple of times. "Let me take this," she says to Squall. She answers the phone, briefly turning away from the monitors and toward the entrance.

The monitors flash: SHE LOVES YOU.

Squall stares at them, shaking his head, an order to dismiss the message on the screens. The messages started shortly after finding the girl in the bottom of the facility - after she attacked him. He realized the attack was out of fear. After all these months, and examining all the files, he's realized several things -

1\. She has Adel's DNA. Adel's followers somehow snuck one of their own onto the orbital prison that held Adel long ago, and stole a sample of the DNA, saving it for this child. After studying the ADEL DNA file, he specified it to only allow CONFIDENTIAL ID ACCESS ONLY. He had committed it to memory, and he definitely didn't need his wife or anyone from Gardens just stumbling upon it.

2\. The followers that once resided here avoided all contact with her, purposefully. The files detail their intent to cause all kinds of stimuli deprivation as she grew, meaning no talking to her, no touching, not allowing her outside, etc.

3\. She didn't understand simple aspects of life. Squall has spent the last few months explaining who Rinoa was - his wife - explaining why someone would have a wife, how someone goes through the process of getting married, body development. Explaining a daughter (Amira) provided its own challenges as well.

4\. She still refused to come out of the shadows or verbally speak, finally opting to use her powers to take over the computer terminals with text displays. She communicated to him with text, but she fully understood when he replied verbally.

5\. She was a lot older than just a child. Squall didn't fully understand why, but despite remaining small and childlike, she had to be in at least her 20s, maybe 30s.

6\. She was powerful. Sometimes random marine life would find its ways into the bowels of the ocean recess in the facility, and he would see the cameras capture her morphing them, manipulating their shapes and sizes. He came into the facility once, and did a double take, thinking Ultima Weapon was back in the bottom of the facility. That's when he first realized how old she was. She had taken a small fish, and had manipulated and resized it into a mirror-image of Ultima - from memory.

He'd never seen anything like it.

———

Luckily, the monitors cleared before Rinoa could see them...again. Squall suspects this was intentional. The permanent resident is as smart as it is powerful...

Rinoa is still pacing, however, her worried expression has yet to dissipate from her face. "There's one more thing," she says to Squall.

He looks at her. She continues, "The government has determined Guardian Forces aren't safe, even in the hands of Garden Presidents like myself," Rinoa says, every word carefully said with precision.

(What? -Squall thinks to himself.)

Rinoa resumes, "This will no longer be a potential Naval Garden Base. This will house the Guardian Forces until a decision has been made-"

Squall fiercely interrupts, "The hell it will. What? How long have you known about this?" His eyes are pleading with hers. "We're going to lock Eden back in here?"

"Not just Eden. All of them," Rinoa firmly responds. Her pacing continues, now far away from Squall.

"Did you have a part in this?" He asks.

"I had a vote. I voted in agreement with it," Rinoa firmly says, avoiding eye contact.

Squall takes a deep breath. "Honey," he pleas, "we wouldn't even be alive today without them. We wouldn't have a kid, and now - What? - you want to enslave them?" His plea is desperate.

Rinoa stops pacing. Her eyes look to the ground now, and remain there, replying "I don't want Amira growing up in the world we grew up in. Even if I voted against it, it wouldn't have been enough to keep them out of here," she says, barely above a whisper.

Squall is furious. He's now the one pacing. "Oh," he says, throwing his hands up, "so it's politics?! Guardian Forces are politics now?!"

The screens behind them all flash the same:

NONONONONONONO

The permanent resident is pissed.

There is no hiding it this time. Rinoa sees it happen first hand, the furious flashing of the monitors reflecting across her face. Every repetitive NONONONO causes her eyes to widen further.

———

She questioned the screens minutes earlier. How many minutes, Squall couldn't begin to quantify. His mind is racing.

(They're not locking up Quetzalcoatl -is all he can think.)

"Squall, answer me," Rinoa says. "What was that?"

He sighs. He doesn't want to have this conversation on top of everything else. But he also can't wipe Rinoa's memory. She finally saw the secret he's been keeping for months.

"There's...a girl...that stays here," he says, softly.

"What?" Rinoa says, calmly at first.

Squall doesn't respond. She realizes his seriousness.

"WHAT?!" She now demands.

The monitors flash:

WHATWHATWHATWHATWHAT

Rinoa stares at them in disbelief, taking the time to stare at each individual monitor, despite them all having the same message.

"It's how she talks to me," Squall finishes.

————

-PRESENT DAY-

Squall is finally loaded on the sea vessel Rinoa brought here, along with Zoe and her armed Garden, Inc. staff.

Amira, Fell and Swan stand back from the table he's been placed on, taking in further actions. Rinoa is standing beside them as well.

Zoe begins hooking various monitors up to Squall, his body still lifeless from the medication administered earlier.

Amira turns away, briefly, fighting tears. Swan is quick to whisper in her ear, "I'm here."

Staring out the port window of the room, she sees Ifrit -in a deep sleep - his huge body heaving up and down in slumber at the end of the deck. She keeps forgetting to dismiss him after battles. She's unaccustomed to Guardian Forces. She takes the time to utilize Selphie's brief training, silently dismissing him. He slowly saunters upward on the deck, appearing more annoyed than relieved. He growls, bends his legs and then jumps into the heavens above.

Amira hears the sound of alarming beeping behind her. She turns around, Swan embracing her hand as she does. She briefly notices Fell recognize the gesture, his annoyance written all over his face. She dismisses it immediately.

"Zoe, what's happening?" Amira asks, alarmed.

Rinoa moves forward, grabbing Amira's other hand - a gesture foreign to her for a long time.

Zoe scrambles, "I-I don't know. His BP-actually all his vitals are crashing. I don't-"

Fell cuts her off, "what did you give him down there?" He calmly asks.

"A sedative," Zoe abruptly responds, frantically looking at the monitors. "Even if he was allergic to it, he shouldn't be crashing like this."

"Wait," Rinoa says. Amira, Fell, Swan and Zoe all stare at her. Rinoa briefly stares at them before, opening the room, gesturing to the armed men outside, "We're taking him back into the facility," she says.

"Dude, What?" Fell asks.

Amira stares, confused.

Rinoa continues, "I don't have time. He said that place healed him. We're just going to try it. I'm not losing him again."

And in a flash, Rinoa's men are taking Squall out of the sea craft, back onto the deck, and frantically marching him down into the facility. All the whole, Zoe skips, desperately trying to keep up while juggling the wires and equipment of the portable monitors.

———

"He's fine, now," Zoe concludes.

Amira's father is resting on the ground near a computer terminal in the depths of the facility. Rinoa is gently rubbing his hair. The monitors no longer beep alarmingly.

Amira notices the various computer monitors aligning the place, all heavily covered in a mixture of dust and ocean foam.

Rinoa begins patting her pockets, desperately searching for something. She finds it. She pulls it out, and hands it forward, gesturing for Amira to take it. "I'm staying here with your father," she says. "You three, under my orders, are going to my Balamb residence," she's eyeing Amira, Fell and Swan.

"Why?" Amira asks.

"There's books there," Rinoa says. "Books I should have paid a lot more attention to, but I didn't because I found out he was sick," she says this looking down at Squall. "They're in a box, in my vault, in the basement. The card will open it. The box is marked 'ADEL.'"

————

Amira, Fell and Swan are all on the deck of the sea vessel, knowing they'll be here most of the night until getting to Balamb.

She's just had to leave her father behind. The man she buried to memories just years prior.

"I'm going to bed. If you need me, come get me, Mirage," Fell says. She hugs him goodbye before he departs below deck. He walks towards the stairs, then turns, taking one last look at her before descending.

It's just her and Swan. "I don't know what to say," he says.

"Me either," she replies.

"I'm staying in the same room as you. I'll sleep on the floor again. I'm not leaving you alone," Swan calmly demands.

Amira smiles, immediately trying to remember when her last smile was. Last night? 24 hours seemed more like 24 weeks away after recent events...

"We can stay in the same bed," she says. "If you want. I trust you."

She sees Swan's face light up. She knows that's a yes.

————

Explosions.

Magic.

Death.

All the same.

Then a loud THUD.

Amira bolts upright in bed. Swan is beside her, lost in sleep.

(What was that -she thinks to herself.)

Then again: THUD.

She realizes she's in the submarine, and something is forcefully hitting the side of it. Something big.

"DUUUDE, I'M OVER THIS SHI-" Fell screams in the next room, before another THUD hits the bow of the ship, this time awakening Swan.

He calmly rises up, seeing Amira looking at him. "Hey, beautiful," he says.

THUD.

This time, Swan's eyes sharpen. The door to their room bolts open, and Fell exasperatedly enters, clearly about to say something until he notices Amira and Swan in bed together.

THUD.

This time, the impact rearranges the furniture of the entire room. The chandelier above dances in chaos. Fell is knocked to his feet, trying to regain composure. Amira jumps out of bed, grabbing Fell by one of his arms.

She leads him down the hallway outside of their private quarters of the ship, they both carefully peer outside of one of the port windows, only seeing murky ocean outside.

Then, it darts path through the ocean currents. It's quick, serpent speed is that of legends.

"Oh my GOD, IT NEVER ENDS," Fell backs away screaming. He raises his hands up in frustration.

Swan has caught up to them, "What?" He calmly asks.

"It's Leviathan," Amira responds, dread in her voice.

————


End file.
